Common Suffixes

Noun Suffixes
Suffix Meaning Example
-acy state or quality privacy
-al act or process of refusal
-ance, -ence state or quality of maintenance, eminence
-dom place or state of being freedom, kingdom
-er, -or one who trainer, protector
-ism doctrine, belief communism
-ist one who chemist
-ity, -ty quality of veracity
-ment condition of argument
-ness state of being heaviness
-ship position held fellowship
-sion, -tion state of being concession, transition
Verb Suffixes
-ate become eradicate
-en become enlighten
-ify, -fy make or become terrify
-ize, -ise become civilize
Adjective Suffixes
-able, -ible capable of being edible, presentable
-al pertaining to regional
-esque reminiscent of picturesque
-ful notable for fanciful
-ic, -ical pertaining to musical, mythic
-ious, -ous characterized by nutritious, portentous
-ish having the quality of fiendish
-ive having the nature of creative
-less without endless
-y characterized by sleazy

Common Prefixes
 Prefix Meaning Example
a-, an- without amoral
ante- before antecedent
anti- against anticlimax
auto- self autopilot
circum- around circumvent
co- with copilot
com-, con- with companion, contact
contra- against contradict
de- off, away from devalue
dis- not disappear
en- put into enclose
ex- out of, former extract, ex-president
extra- beyond, more than extracurricular
hetero- different heterosexual
homo- same homonym
hyper- over, more hyperactive
il-, im-, in-, ir- not, without illegal, immoral, inconsiderate, irresponsible
in- into insert
inter- between intersect
intra- between intravenous
macro- large macroeconomics
micro- small microscope
mono- one monocle
non- not, without nonentity
omni- all, every omniscient
post- after postmortem
pre-, pro- before, forward precede, project
sub- under submarine
syn- same time synchronize
trans- across transmit
tri- three tricycle
un- not unfinished
uni- one unicorn